A Capriccio of the Campo Vaccino with the Castel Sant’Angelo Beyond
Signature
Mrs. J.S. Braddel; sold at
Christie’s, London, Important Pictures by Old Masters, 2 July 1965, lot 2 (as Bartholomeus Breenburgh); acquired by
Edward Speelman, London; sold to
Sir Charles Clore (1904–1979), London; sold at
Sotheby’s, London, Old Master Paintings, 11 December 1985, lot 122 (as Cornelis van Poelenburgh)
with Norbert Pokutta, Munich, 1986
Christie’s, London, Important Old Master Pictures, 8 December 1989, lot 27 (as Cornelis van Poelenburgh); sold to
Private Collection
Bibliography
Albert Blankert, Nederlandse 17e eeuwse Italianiserende landschapschilders, Utrecht, 1965, exh cat., pp. 64-65, no. 11 (as Cornelis van Poelenburgh).
Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée, Le siècle de Rembrandt: tableaux hollandais des collections publiques françaises, Paris, 1970, exh. cat., p. 156, no. 157 (as Cornelis van Poelenburgh).
Marcel Roethlisberger, Bartholomeus Breenbergh, The Paintings, Berlin and New York, 1981, p. 30, no. 16 (as Cornelis van Poelenburgh).
Norbert Pokutta, 1986, ill. In Weltkunst 56 1986 p. 20
Nicolette Sluijter-Seijffert, Cornelis van Poelenburch, 1594/5–1667: The Paintings, Amsterdam and Philadelphia, 2016, p. 367, under no. 231.
Essay
This precious oil on silvered copper represents a daily life scene that took place among the Roman ruins of Campo Vaccino which owes its name to the cattle market held here. Although some of the monuments are real, these are recomposed in an imaginary way forming a capriccio in which the buildings of Campo Vaccino are placed around a modern fountain with Castel Sant’Angelo in the background. The warm, sundial light freezes the scene in time. In the foreground three men discuss the price of a cow and to the right a merchant leads his donkey loaded with goods. A little further behind, a shepherd checks on his herd of cows, while a woman washes clothes in the same fountain basin where a traveler is watering his horse and the artist put the inscription ‘MCXX’ implying the year the painting was executed (1620). Created by the Dutch painter Cornelis van Poelenburgh, this successful composition portraying the humblest of contemporaries in the glorious remnants of a bygone era was like a fancy postcard coveted by wealthy collectors. Marcel Roethlisberger catalogued six versions of the painting, five of which he considered to be painted by the artist although none of them are signed.[1] Among the autographs he included the one presented here and the one preserved at the Musée du Louvre (inv. 1084; fig. 1).[2] Of the latter, the museum also owns the alleged pendant representing Ruins of Ancient Rome with a bas-relief depicting the sacrifice of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (inv. 1086; fig. 2).[3]
Poelenburgh, one of the most important of the first generation of Dutch Italianates, was known for his landscapes inspired by the Roman countryside. After completing his training in Utrecht under Abraham Blomaert, he traveled to Rome where he is first recorded in 1617 and became one of the founding members of the Schiledersbent with the nickname of Satyr. Our composition is symptomatic of the Bambocciate fashion that was emerging in Rome thanks to Nordic artists who were part of this association and called themselves the bentvueghels, such as Pieter Van Laer, known as Bamboccio, Bartholomeus Breenbergh, and Poelenbugh himself. The Satyr spent close to eight years in Rome and stayed some time in Florence between 1620 and 1621 receiving commissions form the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo II. Before 1627 Poelenburgh returned to Utrecht, starting a successful workshop that would become a real school for numerous artists after his stay in London at the court of King Charles I between 1637 and 1641.
This capriccio of the Campo Vaccino fits perfectly into Poelenburg’s early Italian production, as confirmed by the date inscribed on the fountain. In her recent monograph, Sluijter-Seijffert described all the known versions of the composition to copies with the exception of the one in the Louvre.[4] It should be noted, however, that our specimen previously has always been considered an original, also sharing with the Louvre version an initial misattribution to Bartholomues Brenbeergh (Christie’s, London, 2 July 1965, lot 2) corrected in favor of his friend Poelenburgh during the 1960s.[5]. Firstly, the quality of the Louvre painting does not seem to be superior to this version which is also made on an even more valuable medium: not just simple copper but a silvered one. In addition, the other versions known and already believed to be autographs (for example the one sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 26 January 2011, lot 7) present as in our specimen a detail that is missing in the Parisian copper, namely the small group of birds which curiously also appear in the abovementioned pendant of the Louvre artwork. The early date of this work also argues for its autograph status, since Poelenburgh had no studio assistance in his Italian years. While the enamelled surface is a feature that recurs throughout Poelenburgh’s oeuvre, but the warm light that suffuses all landscape elements in the golden tones of an eternal noon is typically Italian. Back in Netherlands, the Satyr will produce paintings with more imposing figures and cooler colors, especially landscapes with mythological subjects (such as Diana Bathing with her Nymphs; fig. 3) in which he rather used the golden light to suggest a sunrise or a sunset.❖